Africa’s 1.4 billion population and growing middle class present an opportunity for countries like Uganda to fully realize their tourism potential.
This was expressed by Elsie G. Attafuah, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Resident Representative for Uganda on Wednesday during the official opening of the Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) 2023 at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
She said that the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a vast market that can turn around fortunes of Uganda as it seeks to position itself as a tourist destination of preference.
“How do we connect the continent together to take advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area at this time when we have 1.4 billion people in the region? Many of them middle class who can afford to travel in the region have no idea what’s in Uganda, Rwanda and South Africa. They all want to go outside the continent, and that needs to reverse,” she said.
The UNDP Rep told the meeting of players in tourism that development is being defunded and thus countries like Uganda which have for long relied on development financing must now build their own wealth. This way, they will build resilience to crises and shocks, especially in this era of uncertainty.
“The days where we had abundant official development assistance for countries are almost over. This is because of geopolitics, interests and other things that are shifting where development financing is going,” Attafuah noted, also stressing the need for strategies that build community ownership in the different tourism destinations, so that they feel a part of these opportunities.
Prior to the Covid pandemic, Uganda’s annual tourist arrivals stood at 1.5m (in 2019). But this number dropped by more than half, to about half a million in 2020. But the numbers are beginning to pick up.
In 2022, there were about 814,508 international visitor arrivals recorded, representing an increase of 59 percent compared to 2021.
Tourism generated close to Ushs 2.7 trillion, representing 12.2 percent of total exports and 41.4 percent of service exports. This is a 44 percent increase from earnings in the previous year but still 47.5 percent below the pre-Covid levels.
Lilly Ajarova, the chief executive of Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) said that this year’s POATE has brought together over 150 exhibitors to interact with local suppliers. Some 100 hosted buyers from source markets including U.S., Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy as well as those from Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Tanzania are also attending.
Hosted buyers are representatives of specialized tourism agencies (from different key tourism source countries) that plan trips for those seeking to travel. UTB facilitates these hosted buyers to come to Uganda and interact with local tour operators as well as Uganda’s tourism products with the hope that they will add Uganda to their travel itineraries curated for potential travelers.
The local operators then become points of contact that later handle the foreign clients that choose Uganda as a travel destination.
In qualifying the UNDP Rep’s argument, Ajarova said that post-pandemic, Africa contributes over 70 percent of the tourists coming to Uganda.
Of Uganda’s top 10 source markets in 2022, only 3 countries (India, U.S. and UK) are outside Africa. Kenya led the list contributing 376,000 visitors followed by Rwanda (158,000), South Sudan, Tanzania and Eritrea.
Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Tom Butime, revealed that the sector has recently received the President’s reassurance on the refurbishment (and coding them separately from Entebbe International airport) of regional airports which are in close proximity with national parks.
“If the directive is implemented, tourists will now be able to land in these attractions in their private jets. In other words, you can fly from Dubai directly to Kasese and drive to Bwindi or Mgahinga. Or you can fly directly to Masindi, then drive to Murchison falls national park,” Butime said.
In spite of the recovery in numbers post-Covid, the Minster says the country must double these figures.
According to the statistics by the Ministry of Tourism, majority (36 percent) of the foreign tourists who visited Uganda in 2022 came for business and professional purpose, followed by those (24 percent) who visited for holiday, leisure and recreation.
Accommodation is the most spent on product for inbound visitors followed by food/beverages, passenger transport and shopping/retail.
The four-day expo which closes on Saturday will be characterized by B2B engagements (between hosted buyers and Ugandan exhibitors), seminars, cultural experiences, and familiarization trips.
While Uganda earns significant foreign revenue from tourism, the issue of whether these benefits trickle down to the ordinary Ugandan, particularly those in communities surrounding tourist attractions, has always been center of discussion. Partly, the human-wildlife conflict has been due to the lack of buy-in by these communities.
On Wednesday, Attafuah reechoed the need to ensure local communities have a stake in the tourism business.
“When I went to Lake Bunyonyi, it struck me and I was fascinated by the beautiful space. I saw this young lady and I told her ‘You live here everyday. You must be very happy’. But she said she wants to go to Kampala so that she can make money,” said the UNDP Rep.
“I asked myself. This is a multimillion-dollar view. Did we open her eyes to see this? Did we create opportunities that allow her to engage?” Attafuah said, adding that local govts and cultural institutions must be empowered to optimize this untapped opportunity.
